Lowe's Sales Rise, Boosted by Pro Business Growth — 2nd Update

By Nicholas G. Miller

Lowe's reported higher first-quarter sales, which were boosted by growth in its business selling to professional customers, even as a stagnant housing market continues to weigh on do-it-yourself home improvement activity.

"While DIY demand remains under pressure, we're continuing to grow market share in a challenging housing environment shaped by elevated interest rates, higher costs and low housing turnover," said Chief Executive Marvin Ellison, adding that the company expects the broader market to remain flat this year.

The company said it is particularly seeing lagging sales in big-ticket discretionary categories, echoing comments from Home Depot on Tuesday that homeowners are pulling back on large home-improvement projects.

"This has been the most difficult housing market that I've faced in this business since the financial crisis," Ellison said. "It's almost exclusively or disproportionately on the DIY customer."

Home improvement retailers rely on housing turnover to drive sales since homeowners often undertake remodeling projects before selling or after buying a home.

Ellison said the degree of spending on home improvement projects depends on income level. "We're operating in what we would describe as a K-shaped economy, where the higher-income consumer spends and they're spending on innovation and they're spending on things to modernize their home, and the lower-income consumer is a little bit more cautious, a little bit more uncertain," he said.

Lowe's said it has built momentum among its small-to-medium professional customers, adding that those customers have remained resilient even as do-it-yourself spending has pulled back. "We're forecasting that Pro will continue to outperform DIY not only in the second half, but for the balance of the year," Ellison said.

Home Depot and Lowe's have each made significant acquisitions of building products companies in order to compete for the more consistent spending of professional building and repair companies.

For the first quarter, Lowe's comparable average ticket size increased 1.5%, driven by price inflation and strength in its pro business and appliances. Comparable transactions declined 0.9% due to continued DIY discretionary pressures.

The company said it is already seeing a cost impact from the recent surge in oil prices. "It's pressuring fuel-commodity based products like resin and plastics," said Chief Financial Officer Brandon Sink, adding that Lowe's is working with vendor and supply chain partners to adjust contracts.

The company posted first-quarter net income of $1.63 billion, or $2.90 a share, compared with $1.64 billion, or $2.92 a share, the year prior.

Adjusted earnings were $3.03 a share. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected $2.97 a share.

Sales rose to $23.08 billion from $20.93 billion the year before. Wall Street had expected $22.98 billion.

Comparable sales increased 0.6%, which the company said was driven by 16% online sales growth and strength in appliances, home services and sales to professional customers.

Analysts had expected comparable sales growth of 0.7%.

The company reiterated its full-year outlook for comparable sales growth of flat to up 2% and adjusted earnings of $12.25 to $12.75 a share.

Write to Nicholas G. Miller at nicholas.miller@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 20, 2026 11:31 ET (15:31 GMT)